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What does money mean to you?

By Tara Conti CFP®

The objective of today’s article is to get you to examine and question how you think of money and what you believe about money.

Money is neither good nor bad.  Rather it is our beliefs that lead us to view money as good or bad.

So, what is a belief and why is it important?

A belief is the acceptance of something that is true.  All of us have beliefs that empower us as well as beliefs that limit us or hold us back.  Most of our beliefs exist at the subconscious level.  We learned them when we were very young, usually before the age of 5.  They are so ingrained in us that we take for granted that they are true.  They shape and filter how we see and feel about the world.

Becoming familiar with and questioning your beliefs around money is the first step to having a healthy relationship with money.

Unfortunately, establishing a healthy relationship with money is not something that is taught in our society.  

The majority of us learns and makes up stories about money based on what we see and hear from our parents, friends and family at an early age. 

Our money beliefs influence our behaviors and financial habits which then lead to the financial results we see in our everyday lives.

Some common limiting money beliefs are:

• Money is the root of all evil. 
• Money doesn’t grow on trees. 
• Money is hard to earn. 
• It takes money to make money. 
• A penny saved is a penny earned.
• You have to work hard to make money.
• Money is for other people.
• A fool and his money are soon parted.

Each of these beliefs can be analyzed and viewed with a positive or negative viewpoint.  Most often beliefs, when taken to an extreme, are not beneficial.

What are some common money sayings that you use or believe?  What comes into your head when you say, 

“Money is…” Or

“Money is NOT…”

Most of us can recall a few influential money stories from our past.  One of my money stories, for example, was that I lost my week of lunch money in the 5th grade.  To this day I remember how much it upset my Mom.  The lesson was that you MUST be careful and responsible with money.  For me, the episode instilled a fear of losing money.  

Do you know where your money stories come from?  

What are the lessons you took away from your money stories?

What are the positive or negative aspects of these beliefs that you hold?  I challenge you to choose a new empowering belief that will help you view money in a positive way.  What are the behaviors and results that you would expect to see in someone that has this new empowering belief?  

Some examples of empowering beliefs are:

• Earning lots of money is easy and fun.
• I have what it takes to be smart with my money.
• Money comes easily to me and I use it wisely.
• I am good enough to have what I want.

Can you come up with any negative results of having this belief and taking it to an extreme?  For example, if you have to work hard to make money, this may appear positive on the surface but actually could lead to someone working all the time and believing this is required to have money and be successful.  This is not always the case.  There are people who work part time and make more than a million dollars a year.  

Make a decision to have more money in your life. 

What actions can you take to make that happen?  What holds you back from having or believing you can have more money in your life?  I challenge you to send me your financial obstacles or beliefs that are holding you back from having more money in your life so I can address them in future articles.

I truly believe we are meant to enjoy our life and help others.  More money means financial independence and freedom to live the life we want.

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